Introduction to Operating System Deployment in Configuration Manager

Configuration Manager provides several methods that you can use to deploy an operating system. Regardless of the deployment method that you use, there are several actions that you must take. These actions include the following:

• Identify any Windows device drivers that are required to run the boot image or the operating system image that you have to deploy.
  
  
• Identify the boot image that you want to use to start the destination computer. Configuration Manager provides two default boot images.
  
  
• Capture an image of the operating system that you want to deploy by using a task sequence.
  
  
• Distribute the boot image, operating system image, and any related content to a distribution point.
  
  
• Create a task sequence that deploys the boot image and the operating system image.
  
  
• Deploy the task sequence to the collection that contains the destination computer. If there are multiple computers in the collection, the task sequence is deployed to each computer in the collection.
  
  

There are several methods that you can use to deploy operating systems to Configuration Manager client computers.

• PXE initiated deployments: PXE-initiated deployments let client computers request a deployment over the network. In this method of deployment, the operating system image and a Windows PE boot image are sent to a distribution point that is configured to accept PXE boot requests. For more information about PXE-initiated deployments, see Planning for PXE-Initiated Operating System Deployments in Configuration Manager.
  
  
• Multicast deployments: Multicast deployments conserve network bandwidth by concurrently sending data to multiple clients instead of sending a copy of the data to each client over a separate connection. In this method of deployment, the operating system image is sent to a distribution point. This in turn deploys the image when client computers request the deployment. For more information about deploying operating systems to multiple clients, see Planning a Multicast Strategy in Configuration Manager.
  
  
• Bootable Media Deployments: Bootable media deployments let you deploy the operating system when the destination computer starts. When the destination computer starts, it retrieves the task sequence, the operating system image, and any other required content from the network. Because that content is not included on the media, you can update the content without having to re-create the media.
  
  For more information about bootable media, see the Operating System Deployments by Using Bootable Media section of the Planning for Media Operating System Deployments in Configuration Manager topic.
  
  
• Stand-alone Media Deployments: Stand-alone media deployments let you deploy operating systems in the following conditions:
  
  
  • In environments where it is not practical to copy an operating system image or other large packages over the network.
    
    
  • In environments without network connectivity or low bandwidth network connectivity.
    
    
  For more information about stand-alone media, see the Operating System Deployments by Using Stand-Alone Media section of the Planning for Media Operating System Deployments in Configuration Manager topic.
  
  
• Pre-staged Media deployments: Pre-staged media deployments let you deploy an operating system to a computer that is not fully provisioned. The pre-staged media is a Windows Imaging Format (WIM) file that can be installed on a bare-metal computer by the manufacturer or at an enterprise staging center that is not connected to the Configuration Manager environment.
  
  Later, when the computer starts in the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager environment, the computer starts by using the boot image provided by the media, and then connects to the site management point for available task sequences that complete the download process. This method of deployment can reduce network traffic because the boot image and operating system image are already on the destination computer. Starting at Configuration Manager SP1, you can specify applications, packages, and driver packages to include in the pre-staged media.
  
  For more information about pre-staged media, see the Operating System Deployments by Using Prestaged Media section of the Planning for Media Operating System Deployments in Configuration Manager topic.
  
  

Note
For information about the advantages and disadvantages of each method, see Determine the Operating System Deployment Method to Use in Configuration Manager.

There are three basic actions that you have to take when you want to use Configuration Manager to deploy an operating system image to a collection of one or more destination computers:

1. Build and capture an image and distribute it to distribution points.
   
   
2. Create and configure the task sequence that installs the operating system image.
   
   
3. Deploy the task sequence.
   
   

Deploy the Task Sequence

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After you create your task sequences, you can deploy the task sequence to the collections that contain the destination computers. For information about how to deploy a task sequence, see the How to Deploy a Task Sequence section of the How to Manage Task Sequences in Configuration Manager topic.

Tip
You can use System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool to determine whether the operating system on computers that are managed by Configuration Manager can run Windows 7 or Windows 8. Download the Upgrade Assessment Tool from the Microsoft Download Center site. For more information, see Configuration Manager Upgrade Assessment Tool.

You can install device drivers on destination computers without including them in the operating system image that is being deployed. Configuration Manager provides a driver catalog that contains references to all the device drivers that you import into Configuration Manager.

The driver catalog is located in the Software Library workspace and consists of two nodes: Drivers and Driver Packages. The Drivers node lists all the drivers that you have imported into the driver catalog. You can use this node to discover the details about each imported driver, to change what driver package or boot image a driver belongs to, to enable or disable a driver, and more. The Driver Packages node lists all the driver packages that you create. You can create these packages when you import drivers into the driver catalog, or you can create them directly in the Driver Packages node.

For more information about how to use the driver catalog when you deploy operating systems, see Planning a Device Driver Strategy in Configuration Manager.

For information about how to manage the driver catalog, see How to Manage the Driver Catalog in Configuration Manager.

When you deploy an operating system, you can also install applications, deployment tools, packages, and software update on the destination computer. The following task sequence steps are used to install these packages:

• Install Application
  
  
• Install Deployment Tools
  
  
• Install Package
  
  
• Install Software Updates
  
  

For more information about how to add steps to task sequences, see the How to Edit a Task Sequence section in the How to Manage Task Sequences in Configuration Manager topic.

You can create several kinds of media that can be used to deploy operating systems. This includes capture media that is used to capture operating system images and stand-alone, pre-staged, and bootable media that is used to deploy an operating system.

By using media, you can deploy operating systems on computers that do not have a network connection or that have a low bandwidth connection to your Configuration Manager site. For more information about how to use media, see Planning for Media Operating System Deployments in Configuration Manager.

When you deploy operating systems, you can save the user state from the destination computer, deploy the operating system, and then restore the user state after the operating systems is deployed. This process is typically used when you upgrade the operating system on a Configuration Manager client computer.

The user state information is captured and restored by using task sequences. When the user state information is captured, the information can be stored in one of the following ways:

• You can store the user state data remotely by configuring a state migration point. The Capture task sequence sends the data to the state migration point. Then, after the operating system is deployed, the Restore task sequence retrieves the data and restores the user state on the destination computer.
  
  
• You can store the user state data locally to a specific location. In this scenario, the Capture task sequence copies the user data to a specific location on the destination computer. Then, after the operating system is deployed, the Restore task sequence retrieves the user data from that location.
  
  
• You can specify hard links that can be used to restore the user data to its original location. In this scenario, the user state data remains on the drive when the old operating system is removed. Then, after the operating system is deployed, the Restore task sequence uses the hard links to restore the user state data to its original location.
  
  

For more information about capturing and restoring user state, see How to Manage the User State in Configuration Manager.

You can deploy an operating system to computers that are not managed by Configuration Manager. There is no record of these computers in the Configuration Manager database. These computers are referred to as unknown computers.

Unknown computers include the following:

• A computer where the Configuration Manager client is not installed
  
  
• A computer that is not imported into Configuration Manager
  
  
• A computer that is not discovered by Configuration Manager
  
  

For more information about how to configure Configuration Manager for unknown computer deployments, see How to Manage Unknown Computer Deployments in Configuration Manager.

When you deploy an operating system, you can associate users with the destination computer to support user device affinity actions. When you associate a user with the destination computer, the administrative user can later perform actions on whichever computer is associated with that user, such as deploying an application to the computer of a specific user. However, when you deploy an operating system, you cannot deploy the operating system to the computer of a specific user. For more information about how to associate the destination computer to users, see How to Associate Users with a Destination Computer.

For more information about how to manage user device affinity, see How to Manage User Device Affinity in Configuration Manager.

You can deploy operating systems in environments that use Network Access Protection (NAP). NAP provides a mechanism to manage the compliance of software updates on Configuration Manager clients. When you deploy operating systems to the destination computers, you must make sure that the NAP enforcement mechanism and the Windows Network Access Protection Service are enabled and interact correctly with the Configuration Manager client on the destination computer.

For more information about how to deploy operating systems to NAP-enabled environments, see Planning for Operating System Deployments in a NAP-Enabled Environment.